'68 is my new favorite year. The year I was born. I was almost four months old. Great Dark Star. But that Caboose tho. In my opinion, THE most San Francisco song from that era. Like all good SF music from that time, it's that inexplicable lysergic jazz rock that QMS and the Plane were doing. They took a lot of risks from '67-69. Honestly, much of what The Dead were doing then hadn't been done before. This was a NEW musical form more or less.
It's not rock, or jazz or pop. It's something else enirely. And I say lysergic bc if the date is correct, it's a Saturday show which as we know was THE day of the week they were most likely to um, imbibe. Phil's thunder takes a classical turn. Almost modern classical in a Steve Reich way. Yeah the editing it rough on this one. The only thing keeping it from being 5 stars. But we do get lots of great stage banter.

I was a 5th year out-of-state Bellarmine student in 1968, trying to delay my graduation to avoid the draft. While I officially resided in Kennedy Hall, I mostly lived with my J-town girlfriend (future wife) in her apartment on Bardstown Rd. I had the Dead's 1st LP and jumped at the chance to see them live. Tickets were cheap ($3-4), like most major rock acts in the 60s. When my wife and I finally left, going on 4am, the Dead were still playing. I don't think this set list is complete, unless there were long gaps between songs that I don't remember.

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DeadBase has 1st song 2nd set listed as unknown, tho it is clearly Rosemary, and does not list any known live performance of Rosemary, so that would make this the only live Rosemary in GD history.

Awesome. In this era (late '67 - early '69), the Dead started out awesome and just kept getting better. The southeastern audience got the most outrageous show you could get on that night. What a peak! The playing here has a subtlety that ranks as mind-blowing even by '68 standards. happy wheels 2

What can I say, its all been said before. I'd been given their first album by a good friend some months before.
Hooked for life.

1968 Dead just kept kept evolving thru the year and it kept getting better. This was a time of explosive creativity at their experimental peak. Jerry is just blazing through everything and taking risk after risk to make it fresh and to potentially seek the unknown to find something new. He's playing with his volume knob, fading in and out in almost every jam, breaking down some of the norms of how they've developed songs to this point. This is what I love about this period. Some of my favorite music ever.

The playing in this show is sloppy at times because this is raw music created on the brink of human creativity, many risks were taken in the spirit of taking music to its limits. That's about as good as I can explain it.

love it! nice '68 set--they were already having that 'Live Dead' sound by then!

Once again an * with no explanation. Please uploaders if you are taking the time to place an asterisk next to a song (see new potato) let us know what it's there for. Guest artist? I see this quite frequently.

I was there, a high school senior. 3 local rock bands opened: Stonehenge, The Oxfords and The Waters. What circulates is incomplete, and way out of order. After Jerry's rap about don't just sit there, get up and dance [paraphrase], they lit into "Lovelight," MIA here. I got up and danced, and kept on doing so thru' the bitter end in '95.

A rare live performance of Rosemary is the highlight (for me) of this show. It is fairly quiet, but I have never heard another live version of it. The rest of the show is great, probably just to freak out the mid-westerners who were probably quite taken aback by the crew from San Fran! Bellarmine isn't a very large school to begin with, so I wouldn't doubt that there were fewer than 500 people attending, I may be wrong. The recording itself is pretty good for '68, but the unique playing of Rosemary makes it worth having!

the strongest part of this show is easily the That's It For the Other One suite, which is VERY intense and well jammed.

the rest is a bit too mellow and subdued compared to the rolling fireball that typifies most of '68 (e.g. Morning Dew, which is one of the worst that i have heard). the show is rather sloppy in places too.

but still, some creative jamming in New Potato, a really nice exploratory Dark Star to open, and also props for the ONLY Rosemary...

3 and 1/2 stars

This is a ratty little gem of a show. On first listen, I went, yeah, good, but whatever, there's so much other better. But now, for some reason (many reasons: rosemary, caboose, and that wonderful wonderful darkstar), I'm drawn back, again and again. I have listened to this show probably 400 times in the past couple of years, and it feels like an old comfortable shoe.

im a huge fan of 68 dead and this show has got some great moments. thought first set was ok nothin special. a very reckless and out of control other one. beautiful jam comin out of cryptical. nasty phil jam in new potatoe. rosemary brings the energy way down but is appreciated for its rarity. rosemary really took the energy down for the rest of the night. nothing special in the morning dew closer either.

great jamming on caboose; rosemary, most poignant in this rare live perf

Can't give it a 5 due to the cuts but this is a really fun show. Jerry taking requests? Too much! "You have just been victimized by the Grateful Dead".

Very brisk WBYG.

New Potato Caboose took me to another world , and to that magical feeling of the Grateful Dead, Back Then when acid was legal and they played 3 shows a night, It took me to a place that I could only dream of, not being born befor the 60's but 40 years later. You can feel like your there at the college in 68'. This is what the dead is about every song on this show has got that feel to it but NPC most of all. -Fredrick Young (bass player)

I was born exactly 21 years after this performance.

the sound is fine.
The problem with it is the cuts. I hate to hear HWAFOM cut (especially this version) also Hurts me Too, DDHNM, TOO. But it's still a good recording and some stellar guitar work being done by Jerry. Real nice Caboose and the Morning dew is great. And what a snappy Bid You Goodnight.
Hey, it's 1968, enjoy it.

Drop 4 and 8 Mhz and you will lose the hiss-- especially in Rosemary.

This is an interesting version of the sad song, "He Was A Friend Of Mine." (Is it the Dylan song?) At Bellamarmine College in Kentucky, they played a country-ish variation with a soft interplay on the instrumental intro - acoustic Weir, light keys, and country electric Jerry. Does JG use the pedal steel here, or guitar?

Another "He Was Friend Of Mine" possibly from a radio show, was on the 1st GD mix tape I ever got. I still haven't determined what date that version is from.

I would have killed for a tape that sounded this good back then. Yeah, Rosemary is hard to hear, but aside from historical value, it never did much for me anyway. In Dark Star, Garcia has that "inter-galactic" sound going on, typical of the period, and irresistable. Don't take these shows for granted. Get 'em while you can. 4 stars.

the only thing you need to know about this show is that it includes Rosemary... ok, it's hissy, but for eff's sake, if for historical purposes only, get this show...

This is a great show however it is sliced and diced and while you should be charitable with shows older than '69 the hiss is there and the editing is really sloppy.

This college they played at is a University now.
My friends dad was at this show and supposedly this was a war protest show/thing.This college was/is very laid back,having a small,chill campus,etc.Its not downtown either.Its inside a old nice neighborhood actually.
There were some local bluegrass bands playing before,and some art school thing too.
Never has this show turned up in Ky.
Well played great sound from the guitars.The only Rosemary.Actually a stellar show from the list,and sound.
Kentucky got hooked up early for Christmas this year.
For years in Deadbase only the show was listed,no setlist.Then one year it popped up.
Thank you for liberating this sought after show.
Jerry asks the crowd if there is anything they would like to hear.Jerry loved Kentucky music from start.He was probally siked to play a place that 6 years earlier he would have been lookin for the bluegrass.
I have seen an orchestra here before.
Lovely place.
The first of 6 Great shows in this my hometown state.'68'74'78'89'90'93'93
The Deads first song live in Ky.-DARKSTAR
other great ky. gems:
EYES'74
WEREWOLVES'78
LOUIE LOUIE'89
SMOKESTACK>OTHER ONE JAM'90
GLORIA'93

yep..this is good.....kinda sucks to hear it hurts me too with the beginning chopped off.....but damn!

This show should be listed as 12-7-68; most notable for this is the rare live rendition of Rosemary, which Jerry performed here in a very low-key fashion (crank your volume up to hear anything) as it wanders off to some basic tuning, warming up for the next song. The sound quality is really good but there are alot partial cuts, except the Morning Dew>Bid U Goodnight, which is a worthy listen.